A New World
by Sharkneto
Summary: Steve Rodgers spent 62 years asleep in the ice, leaving the world he knew long behind. What is this 21st century that he's woken up to? Pepper is here to help him figure it all out. With Tony's help, of course. Light Pepperony. MovieVerse.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N – This is my first FanFiction, so take that information as you will. I love the Captain America and Iron Man movies, and cannot wait for the Avengers to come out! One of the reasons, other than Robert Downey Jr, is I can't wait to see Steve try and figure out how the whole new world works. I think we can all agree that confused!Steve is adorable._

_This first chapter is basically just a written version of the end of the movie, and I hope that doesn't get me into much trouble. I just thought it would be the best place to start this story off. To give you a taste of what my original writing is like, I'll put Chapter 2 up right away. You can expect updates every week or two, depending on how crazy my schedule gets… I feel this covers everything. And I promise you my notes won't be so long in the future! _

_Obligatory Disclaimer: Really, if I owned Captain America, Iron Man, or the Avengers, would I be writing FanFiction? All rights to them belong to Marvel and Disney._

Chapter 1

Steve Rogers opened his eyes to see a plain white ceiling above him, which he wasn't expecting. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but that wasn't it. He looked around his small room - bed, bedside table with a lamp, a dresser and a radio playing the New York Dodgers game - as he tried to figure out why he was in the hospital. As he attempted to piece together what was going on, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off - something important.

After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, it came back to him, everything. The Super Soldier program, those embarrassing shows, his first self-ordered mission as Captain America, losing Bucky, and the fight against the Red Skull on his plane. That's what was wrong! He was supposed to be in the middle of nowhere right now in a plane crash! So how was he...? _Stark!_ Steve thought, S_tark__must__have__found__me__before__I__died!__And__he__brought__me__back__here!_ It was the only logical explanation. So why hadn't that feeling gone away?

Steve relaxed on the bed and listened to the familiar Dodgers game. Familiar? Steve frowned and listened more closely... He had been at that game! He'd seen Dolph Conillos hit his 20th homerun that the radio announcer was cheering about. He'd been at that game with... Bucky. Steve shook his head. Now wasn't the time or place to mourn his best friend.

While Steve was clearing his head, the door to his room opened and a brown-haired woman entered. He almost sighed in relief - until he realized she wasn't Peggy Carter like he'd originally thought. She just looked extraordinarily like her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Steve cut her off, flinching at how rude he was being to a lady. "Where am I?" he demanded.

The Peggy Carter look alike frowned at him before answering, "You're in a hospital in New York. You were qui-"

"I was at this game in May, 1941," Steve interrupted her again, deciding his rudeness was allowed in this instance and gesturing to the radio. "I was at this game," he repeated to the confused looking Not-Peggy. "I know I'm not in New York like you said. Now, where am I?"

Not-Peggy attempted a smile, but looked incredibly nervous, "I'm afraid I don't understand..."

Steve realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. He was about to ask to see a doctor or higher up when he watched her attempt to inconspicuously hit a button on a small device in her hand that he hadn't noticed before. And then he knew. He was at some Hydra base that he had somehow manage to not blow up. Johann Schmidt was behind this, he just knew it. But then why was he still alive? How was the Red Skull still alive?

Steve had stayed too long. Hydra agents, men and - to his astonishment - women, were pouring through the door behind Not-Peggy. Steve looked in vain around him for his shield and uniform, but could find neither. He'd just have to get them back when he returned to blow the base up and apologize to Howard for losing his ridiculously rare metal shield.

With the door effectively blocked, Steve crashed his way through the wall behind him - into a huge room where his room – no, _box_ – was stored. More agents attempted stop him as he raced for the nearest doors, but he just pushed and punched them out of his way. The door led into a series of long, twisting metal hallways, filled with yet more Hydra agents.

As Steve ran, he tried to figure out what was going on around him. But it wasn't working. It was like taking one and one and getting seven. Nothing made any sense. His thoughts were cut short as he sprinted through what was obviously a very fancy lobby and through some bizarre, rotating doors to the outside. Where Steve stopped in his tracks.

He was completely surrounded by towering metal and glass buildings, soaring impossibly high into the sky. He was broken from his short trance by a hand attempting to grab his shoulder. Steve knocked the hand off and picked up his speed once again. And almost had a heart attack as the strangest vehicle - including Howard's flying car -he'd ever seen screeched to a halt before it could hit him. It was sleek and shiny and cold looking, with none of the character Steve liked so much in the cars back at home. Steve regained his breath and heartbeat before setting off at a sprint once again. "Where am I?" he whispered to himself as he put as much distance between himself and the Hydra base.

Steve kept waiting for something to look familiar or make sense. It never did. He was stuck in a strange, futuristic land with strange buildings and vehicles and people with even stranger clothes. Many people had electric wires coming out of their ears and into pockets or strange handheld devices. Some talked into tiny hand held devices or just talked allowed to themselves, carrying on conversations with unseen people. Steve wondered if they were the artificial humans he'd seen at the Future Building, before he'd gone to war. Nothing around him made any real sense. All he could think was that Stark probably knew what it all was and wished he were here with him. Or anybody he knew, for that matter.

As he ran, Steve spotted an opening between two towering metal and glass structures. He ran towards it, and found the most bizarre thing he'd seen on his bizarre day. He was surrounded even more people in been weirder clothes. But he hadn't stopped in his tracks to stare at the people. It was what was above the peoples' heads that was truly amazing.

Steve decided they must be signs, though none like he'd seen before. They were impossibly bright with twinkling dancing lights, changing the pictures on them faster than should have been possible. After a little more study, Steve realized they were advertisements – all for things he had never heard of.

Steve was brought back to his situation in a flash as he realized he'd been surrounded by the sleek vehicles while he ogled at the signs. Hydra agents piled out of them - good thing he'd never learned when to quit. Steve readied himself for an impossible battle, and was about to begin fighting his way out when a voice full of authority commanded, "At ease, soldier!" Steve whipped around searching for a face to go with the voice. A tall black man dressed in black walked towards him, one eye covered by a patch. "You've been asleep a long time, Captain," the man continued. Steve studied him, not sure what to make of the man. The black man seemed to sense his unease and gave him a smile. "I'm Nick Fury, head of SHIELD," he paused and studied Steve once more. "Still think you're in Germany?" Fury questioned.

"Wha- Where am I?" Steve questioned, desperate to finally get an answer.

"You're in Times Square, New York, Sir. It's July 2008. We won the second world war sixty-two years ago," Fury stated, watching Steve for a reaction.

Steve felt like he'd been hit in the face with a brick. He'd been... doing something for the past 62 years. He didn't even want to think about what he'd missed yet - he'd deal with that later. And then he remembered his promise to Peggy with a pang. Something must have showed on his face, because Fury asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

Steve looked back at him and said the only thing on his mind. "It's just... I had a date."

_So, hate it? Love it? Please let me know! Review! And read on!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: So here's the really original stuff. Nothing much new to add – just enjoy!_

_Obligatory Disclaimer: Really, if I owned Captain America, Iron Man, or the Avengers, would I be writing FanFiction? All rights to them belong to Marvel and Disney._

Chapter 2

Steve still didn't know what to think. Colonel Fury had taken him back to the SHIELD base and had explained how Steve had been monumental in ending the Second World War. And was still one of America's favorite heroes. "...and I think we could still use you," Fury finished. Steve looked up. He had thought that they would bring him up to speed with the new world and then 'kick him out' to go live in it. He hadn't thought they would still need Captain America - they had other heroes now, as Fury had explained, that Iron Man and the one called Thor.

"I don't understand - don't you already have heroes helping? Why do you need me?" Steve questioned, "I don't have the special powers they all have - I'm just a lucky kid from Brooklyn."

"Which is why we need you. That lucky kid from Brooklyn is one of the best leaders America has ever seen. I'm putting together a team - and I'd rather die than see Stark leading it. Wouldn't get anything done without everyone and their mother after us for one thing or another..." Fury trailed off, grumbling about Stark. Steve's mind raced - how had no one told him Howard Stark was still alive? Granted he would be a very old man, but still, alive! Fury cut into Steve's whirring thoughts, "But before we can do anything, we need to get you acquainted with the twenty-first century. And get you officially alive again, of course. I think I know who can help you with relearning about the world though..."

Pepper Potts was not having a good day. Tony had, once again, blown off another meeting that had already been rescheduled twice in favor of playing with his suit. She had warned him that they were going to lose the potential clients to Hammer, but he scoffed that no one would go near that business after the fiasco at the Stark Expo. And to top everything off, she was getting a call from one Colonel Fury, director of SHIELD. Which meant that Tony was also ignoring him. Pepper shook her head and picked up the phone.

"Pepper Potts speaking," she answered, not bothering with the usual excuse for why Tony Stark couldn't pick up his own phone.

"Ms. Potts," Nick Fury's smooth voice greeted her, "this is Nick Fury."

"I'll go get Tony on the line," Pepper was about to switch the line to his workroom through JARVIS, but Fury called for her to stay on with him.

"For once, I need you, Ms. Potts," Fury chuckled, "It's a good thing you're in New York for a while, I have a project of sorts that I think you'd be the best for it out of the options I have."

"What exactly am I qualified to do, sir? And what makes me qualified?" Pepper was baffled - Fury had hundreds of agents at his fingertips that were qualified in things she could only dream of. Why did he need her for something?

Fury chuckled again before continuing, "Your qualifications," he began, skipping over what she was actually supposed to do with them, "are that you have a good grasp on our current world and how it works and you are the most patient person I know. Both are the requirements for this mission, of sorts."

"I'm the most patient person you know? How do you figure that?" Pepper could only think of her rather frequent, well, tantrums, for lack of a better word, she threw at Tony - though those had thankfully reduced in number now that Tony and she were more or less in a real relationship.

"You've worked for Tony and his BS for 10 years, Ms. Potts. If that's not patience I don't know what is!" Pepper could almost see him shaking his head at her, laughing, "But back to the problem at hand - do you want the mission or not?" Pepper barely thought about it before she said yes. She had always sort of wanted to be part of a mission - even if she wasn't really a spy in a cat suit like she'd dreamed when she was a kid. This was as close as she was going to get to it. "You can pick up your project at 9. See you tomorrow, Ms. Potts." The phone line went dead. Pepper shook her head, and went back to trying to reschedule the meeting one more time.

Pepper carefully excited Happy's car. She had no idea what to expect, so she dressed like she always did for work. Though now she was worried that her stilettos hadn't been the best choice of footwear... She cleared away the stray thoughts and entered SHIELD's public base.

After maneuvering through security and hallways, Pepper finally made it to Fury's office. She checked her watch - right on time too. She knocked and entered to find Nick at his desk looking at a stack of forms, signing and marking things every once and a while. He looked up as she closed the door with a soft click. "Ms. Potts," he said with a nod, "please sit. I'm glad you chose to take this up." Pepper took the closest chair and waited for him to be ready to explain. "Sorry about all of this," he said motioning to the stacks of paper around him, "it takes a lot of work to bring a man back from the dead. Which is why your here to help." Pepper looked at him with wide eyes. All she could think of was ancient ceremonies of human sacrifice and blood. Something she had not signed up for.

"What exactly will I be doing, Colonel?" she asked warily. Fury glanced up and smirked at her apparent uneasiness.

"He never was really dead," he explained, picking up immediately on her worries, "he was just locked in suspended animation for 70 years and I need you to show him how the new world works." Pepper blinked. Okay. Gods could fly down from another world. She should be able to accept that someone could more or less sleep for almost a century. She turned as the door opened behind her. Standing there was probably one of the best looking men she'd ever seen. He was tall, hunky, and had an easy going presence that just took up the whole room. Upon seeing her, he looked embarrassed stopped short where he was in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Colonel. I hadn't realized you had company. I'll just bring this last form back when you aren't busy," he said, ready to turn and leave.

"Not so fast, Steve," Nick called to him, "this is the person who will reintroduce you to the world. Captain Steven Rodgers, meet Ms. Virginia Potts." Steve entered the room fully and shook Pepper's hand, a warm smile on his mouth.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Potts," he said.

"Please, call me Pepper," she replied. He blinked at the strange nickname, but didn't say anything about it. He sat down next to her after handing the form in his hand to Fury. They sat in silence as Fury flipped through the last few forms. Pepper studied the Captain out of the corner of her eye. He didn't seem like he had missed 70 years. Sure he wore a vintage army shirt, but lots of people wore old clothing. She studied his eyes, as if they showed his true age, but they didn't. They were unfocused, like Tony's often were when he was deep in thought, and sad. Pepper's observations were cut short when Fury gave a snort.

"Captain, may I ask what this is?" They both looked up to see a piece of paper the Director was holding up. Steve laughed.

"I thought that in case the people reading the form didn't understand it the first three times of reading through why I was thought to be dead and how I'm alive, they could use some illustrations to figure it out." Fury shook his head at the other man. While their exchange was going on, Pepper studied the pictures.

It was sort of a flow chart. The first picture depicted a skinny kid getting beat up while what appeared to be a doctor pointed at him. The next showed the same kid in a glowing box with an arrow pointing to a strong man - that looked like Steve - next to it. She guessed it meant the smaller man became Steve. Which didn't make any sense to her. The next picture showed the iconic Captain America in what appeared to be a show with dancing girls and music. The rest of the pictures followed the Cap to a huge plane, to fighting the Red Skull, to crashing into ice. The final picture showed Steve in what had to be Times Square talking to a man, who had to be Fury based on the eye-patch. What amazed Pepper was how well drawn each little picture was. She still didn't understand the part about the little man getting beat up, but it obviously showed that...

"You're Captain America?" she blurted out, interrupting Fury telling Steve off for wasting his time for idiotic pictographs. Captain America grinned at her and turned to Fury.

"See? It worked for her. Though if you would prefer, sir, I can rewrite what I wrote on the other forms and you won't have to deal with the pictures. I just thought it'd break up the monotony of them."

"Just get out of here, Rodgers," Fury sighed, "I have a bunch of your old stuff in the room across the hall. You and Ms. Potts can sort through it to organize the old world before you tackle the new one." They nodded and Pepper rose with Steve, who saluted Fury, before walking out of his office. They heard the man sigh before they walked across the hall to tackle Steve's past.

_I can totally see Steve drawing pictures for those too slow to catch on to why he isn't dead... Please review – let me know how I'm doing! _


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Here's Chapter 3! I hope you were all waiting on the edges of your seats for this! Thank you so much for the reviews – it's nice to know who's there and what you're all thinking about my first foray into FanFiction. Sorry, no Tony yet for those waiting for him. I'm thinking I'll add Chapter 4 on Christmas as a present to all you wonderful readers; and I do believe Mr. Stark makes his grand entrance in it! Wishing you all very happy holidays!_

_~Sharkneto_

_Obligatory Disclaimer: Really, if I owned Captain America, Iron Man, or the Avengers, would I be writing FanFiction? All rights belong to Marvel and Disney._

Chapter 3

Steve wasn't sure what to anticipate as the entered the room that held all his old stuff. He and Pepper looked around, and he wasn't sure if he had been expecting more or less. He'd known he didn't own much - he was an orphan and then had gone to war, not leaving much behind. But he sort of wanted there to be more than three boxes of his things. Granted, they were large boxes, but they still made him feel... hollow, he guessed.

"Where do we start?" Pepper questioned, looking at him. Steve shrugged and grabbed the nearest and newest looking box. There was a table they could work at, but Steve had always done this sort of thing sitting on the ground where you could splay everything out to look at. Taking note of Pepper's modest pencil skirt, he thought he may want to rethink his plan.

"The floor okay with you? Otherwise we could sort it out on the table," he suggested. Pepper smiled and carefully folded herself onto the floor for her answer. Steve smiled and put the box down and sat beside her. He carefully opened it up, not quite sure what lay inside.

Pepper watched as Steve carefully opened the first box. His face split into an enormous grin, and she craned her neck to see what was causing it. She didn't have to wait long. Steve gently pulled out his iconic shield - colors as bright as the day it was made, she assumed, as he ran a loving hand over it. Catching her watching him, Steve's grin shrank to something more sheepish. "I thought it had been lost. In the crash, I mean," he gave a quiet laugh, "Howard would have killed me if it had been." He said the last part quieter, almost more to himself than to her.

"What's in the rest of the box?" Pepper asked when Steve finally put the shield down. He peered in and proceeded to pull out the rest of his old uniform. Steve didn't talk to her much as he emptied the box. He seemed to be in his own world right then, and Pepper didn't have the heart to pull him out of it. He handled each piece with utmost care, tracing over the bright star on his shirt and the A on his helmet. Pepper shifted her position slightly, and the quiet noise the motion made seemed to bring Steve back.

"Sorry about that," he apologized quickly, clearing his throat. He blinked quickly a few times before turning to look at Pepper, "Should we look in the next box?" Without waiting for her to answer, he got up to get it. She smiled to herself and took the time to look at the iconic uniform. She was amazed at how everything seemed to be in perfect condition. Even the paint on the shield was fine. A note was lying next to it on the ground, _"__Got__everything__patched__up__for__when__you__'__re__ready__to__use__it__again__-__Fury__"__._ If Pepper hadn't known any better, she would have thought that the unflappable SHIELD Director had a soft spot for the Star Spangled Avenger.

Steve announced his presence again by ceremoniously dropping the second box next to the first. "You can help unpack this one if you want," he suggested, "I'm not going to monopolize this one." She gave him an understanding smile.

"This is your stuff, Captain," Pepper said, "I don't want to do anything that would make it weird or something." He gave her a look at that; similar to the one she had received when she had told him to call her Pepper. But he only told her to stop calling him Captain and use his real name. And with that they tackled the box.

The first thing that came up was a manila folder. An _old_manila folder. _Finally,__something__that__shows__his__true__age!_Pepper though ruefully. Steve opened it with careful fingers. On top was a grainy black and white photograph of a bunch of soldiers, obviously at training camp. Steve flashed a sneaky look at her before asking, "How much do you know about me pre-super-soldier-serum?"

"Not much. Why?" she replied. He handed her the photo.

"Which one's me?"

"It's like Where's Waldo!" she laughed, as she studied it. All the soldiers looked basically the same, except for the scrawny boy in the front row.

"Like where's what?" She looked up to see an incredibly confused Cap. _How__could__I__be__such__an__idiot?_ Pepper asked herself before replying.

"Ummm, it's a children's book where they have to find a cartoon man in red and white stripes in crowded scenes. Who's name is Waldo. I'm sorry, I should have thought..." Steve gave her kind smile.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Pepper," She almost laughed at how uncertainly he said her nickname, "It's my own fault I was locked in the ice for so long. Just don't get too tired of explaining things to me. I have to learn most of it sooner or later." Pepper nodded and went back to studying the picture.

"Is this you?" she asked finally, pointing at a tall, muscular blond in the back row. It didn't quite look like him, but she didn't see anyone else who he could be.

"Good gosh no!" Steve's loud denial startled Pepper, "That's Hodge. One of the worst bullies I ever met." He shook his head and tugged on the photo a bit so he could see it. "That's me," he pointed to the skinny kid she'd originally noticed. "I thought you'd get it right away, actually, because you saw my helpful pictograms back in Fury's office."

"I'm feeling sort of stupid now for not getting it, but holy cow! That serum really worked, didn't it?" But now that Pepper was looking, she could see the resemblances between the two men. Pre-Serum Steve had that same look of happiness and kindness on his face that the Steve sitting next to her had. "You look really happy," she said after a couple seconds.

"I was. I finally found a way to serve my country. Still am happy, I guess. At least I will be once I understand a little more," he chuckled at himself, "I guess I'm a wheat, now. Even if I grew up in the city." Now it was Pepper's turn to give Steve a strange look.

"A wheat?"

"A person who doesn't know much about living in the city," he chuckled again, "I guess we'll be teaching each other some, huh?" He shook his head and turned back to his picture. Looking over it, he pointed out an older man on the end, "That's Doctor Erkstein. He was the one behind the whole serum. The one who got me into the army and everything after that."

"What happened to him?"

"He... he was plugged a minute or two after the serum succeeded with me by one of Hydra's agents. Everything he worked for with the serum died with him - all the remaining vials of it were broken in the resulting chase after the agent. I was the only thing of his work left..." Steve broke off and looked back at the picture. "That's Colonel Chester Phillips," he continued, pointing at a gruff looking officer, "He had a reputation for being the meanest Colonel, but I always thought he just didn't really know how to show anything else. He used sarcasm and not yelling where other people used compliments." Steve shook his head - Pepper thought he looked like he was in danger of slipping back into his head and the times he remembered.

"Who's that?" she asked before he fell too far away, pointing to the only woman in the picture. A beautiful one at that. She glanced at Steve, and immediately felt sorry for bringing it up. He had that sad, wistful look he'd had back in Fury's office. "You don't have to answer, I mean, you've had a tough couple days and..." Pepper trailed off when Steve gave her a look.

"Its fine. She's been dead for six years, anyway. That is Agent Peggy Carter. She was the only dame - woman - who ever noticed me before I was Captain America..." He trailed off. "We'd had a date scheduled..." Pepper felt horrible that she'd brought it up. It was obvious to anyone that it was most definitely not fine. He shook his head once again, blinking a few times, as she put the picture down and pulled out a stack of forms for volunteering for the army. Five of them.

"Aren't you only allowed to volunteer once...?" she looked at Steve, who had recovered slightly and was wearing another sheepish grin.

"What can I say? I wasn't going to take no for an answer. It was lucky it was Dr. Erkstein who found me. Instead of arresting me, he gave me a chance."

They spent the next twenty minutes clearing out the box bit by bit. It seemed to be filled with Captain America memorabilia. From fliers depicting Steve telling men he wanted them in the army to pictures of children with garbage can shields, it was all there. While Pepper was studying an ancient comic, Steve nudged her arm, "What's this?"

Pepper looked up to see him holding out a jump drive. "That's a jump drive," the name received The Look, as Pepper was now calling the face he was pulling at every unfamiliar word or thing. "It plugs into a computer and allows you to access extra files that you don't have room for or don't have on your computer," The Look continued, and Pepper quickly realized why, "Those screens and technical looking boxes in SHIELD offices are computers. They let you look up and share information, basically. I wonder what a jump drive is doing with all of your stuff..." Steve shrugged and handed it to her before turning back to all the remaining items splayed in an organized chaos on the floor. Pepper turned to her bag that carried her necessities - such as her lap top. She pulled it out and booted it up before she realized Steve was giving her and her laptop The Look.

"It's a computer, except portable. See?" she moved slightly so he could get a better look at it. "I pulled it out so we could see what was on the jump drive. I'll get it set up and then call you over if you want to see what's on it." Steve gave the computer The Look for another couple seconds before nodding slowly and turning back to the comic he had picked up.

"I'm never going to understand the twenty-first century..." she heard him mumble to himself. She smiled to herself before plugging the jump drive in. There were only two files on it, and even more curious, one was an audio file and the other was a video. Neither of which existed in those forms in the 1940s. She turned up the volume of the lab top and clicked on the audio file. Trumpet fan fare blared out of her computer. At almost the same time Steve whipped around to stare at her, eyes wide in instant recognition of the song.

"You know this?" Pepper asked, as what could only be show girls began to sing: _Who__'__s__strong__and__brave__here__to__save__the__American__flag!_

Steve surprised her by grinning at her beginning to talk, "Not all of us can storm beaches or drive a tank, but there's still a way all of us can fight." And the song continued: _Who__vows__to__fight__like__a__man__for__what's__right__night__and__day?_ Steve's ears were pink and a slightly embarrassed smile covered on his face he continued his lines, "Series E defense bonds! Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of you best guys gun." He was looking at her with one eyebrow raised as the chorus took over the song, almost daring her to comment. After a couple seconds his charade broke down, "Captain America was propaganda to sell war bonds before he ever set foot in Europe. I was pretty good - war bond sales went up by 10% in every state I visited. The most embarrassing part of the whole thing was when they sent me over to Italy to raise troops' moral. They were the ones laying down their lives to fight for what was right night and day. I was just a guy wearing tights." He shook his head in disgust.

They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the song. Pepper had to admit, it was catchy. The Star Spangled Man with a Plan spoke up as the chorus sang about stepping on goose stepping goons from Berlin. "You know, one guy even mooned me. At the show in Italy. Then they through rotten fruit at me. I really don't blame them. There they were losing their friends and I wanted them to help me sock old Adolph on the jaw. Gosh, what was Senator Brandt thinking?" Pepper rubbed his shoulder and gave him a friendly smile.

"Do you wish you hadn't had to go to Italy at all? Stayed state-side with your song?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Gosh no! Had I not gone over no one would have gone to Hydra's base to rescue the rest of the 107th and Bucky would have been dead. Well, dead sooner," He seemed to space out again with his sad eyes when he mentioned Bucky, and Pepper thought it best to act like she didn't notice anything. After a little while he seemed to get back on track to what he was saying, "I wouldn't have been able to stop Hydra if I hadn't been sent over. Broke every order I'd been given, but I couldn't leave my best friend to die a prisoner of war." The cheery song had stopped, leaving them in sudden, gloomy silence.

"You wanna talk about Bucky at all?" Pepper asked. Tony was the same way when he wanted to talk about his parents or Obadiah, which admittedly wasn't that often. But he still danced around it, mentioning them until Pepper asked to talk about. Then he'd put up this hurt show about why Pepper would want to revisit those times and would eventually calm down and talk.

Steve was much easier about it. He turned back to the almost forgotten Manila folder and pulled out a picture he had skipped over earlier. It showed Steve in his Captain America uniform with a good looking, dark haired gentleman. Both of them looked like they were just overjoyed that they were together. "We met at the orphanage after my mom died. He always defended me and helped clean me up after I picked a fight with one of the bullies there for some unfair thing or another. He was just always there for me. It almost killed me to see him leave to go to the war. The fact he was going and I was stuck at home, alone. He would joke that I should be excited, I was about to be one of the only bachelors left in New York. And then Dr. Erkstein gave me the way to go out and join him. And save his life. He was on the team I put together for destroying Hydra bases," he reached for another picture showing a group of men around a table, drinking, "The Howling Commandos," he smiled at the picture.

"We got to the point where we only had a base or two left, and we knew where the Red Skull's right hand scientist was going on a train. Bucky and I made it to the train, and almost took out all of the guards on it. But the last one managed to shoot a hole in the wall of the car while we were riding past a canyon, and Bucky fell out with it. He held on for a while, but slipped before I could get to him." They were both silent or a while. Steve was lost in his head for the fourth time, and Pepper had no idea how to comfort him. He looked up at her suddenly, "You know what the crazy thing is? It still feels like he died last week. It doesn't feel like 70 years have passed."

Pepper still didn't know how to respond to that, and let him turn back to the almost empty box, photos carefully placed back in the folder. She turned back to her laptop sitting next to her, and looked at the videos that were left on the jump drive. "Hey, Steve?" she asked cautiously, "There's a couple videos here, do you want to watch them?" He nodded but didn't speak.

Neither of them spoke through the two short movies. One was a taped version of the show the song was from, which Pepper noted made the Cap's ears turn bright red. The other was a short film on Captain America fighting in the war, in an obvious Hollywood set. But they seemed to help Steve regain his composure and usual positive attitude.

When the clips ended, he watched her power down and put away her laptop with rapt attention. "Should we tackle the third box?" Pepper asked Steve when she saw the box was empty. He shook his head.

"We can finish tomorrow," he replied as he began putting things back into the appropriate boxes, everything almost exactly as it had originally been. He only kept out a few old photos and his shield. They stood together and walked out the door, where they parted ways.

"I have really enjoyed this, Pepper," Steve began, shifting his shield so they could shake hands. "I appreciate you taking the time to help me become reacquainted with the world and listen to my stories."

"Why don't you come over tomorrow to my place to sort out that last box. You can meet Tony, maybe, and ask me any questions you have on what you see on the way over. And it's absolutely no trouble helping you out," Pepper was excited for tomorrow, she realized. She liked hanging out with Steve. She could already tell they would be good friends. They set the time Steve would go over to Tony's house and then he walked away to wherever he was staying in the base, after telling her he should probably rewrite that form he had drawn on for Fury.

She was about to turn and leave when she noticed Fury's open door next to her. Fury looked at her for a couple seconds before starting to close the door. "I'm glad it's working out," he called out before the door shut all the way.


	4. Chapter 4

_So… does this still count as an acceptable Christmas present even a year and a few days late from when it was promised? I had this chapter sitting on my computer, and while I was clearing said computer out, I found it. And thought my poor, deprived, yet wonderfully loyal readers deserved it. Thank you to those who still reviewed even though I hadn't done anything for the story in months. You made me feel guilty enough to dig this out. __ Warning for the future: I only have one more chapter typed up, and I will be posting it, but I'm not sure if I will be continuing this story or not… But here is Chapter 4, either way._

_Note: Obviously, this was written before the Avengers movie came out. Which was awesome! Just wishing they could've fit in a bit more confused!Steve..._

_Enjoy! ~Sharkneto_

_Obligatory Disclaimer: Really, if I owned Captain America, Iron Man, or the Avengers, would I be writing FanFiction? All rights belong to Marvel and Disney._

Chapter 4

Pepper had been looking forward to Steve coming over the entire day. Which gave her such a good mood that Tony could do nothing to dampen it. She even almost didn't mind that he had blown off the meeting scheduled for the day. Almost. She hadn't actually seen much of her egotistical boyfriend that day - today he was working on a new hot rod that he had not so subtly hinted was going to belong to her once she was finished. Because heaven forbid she have the same car for over a year...

But whatever he happened to be working on, Pepper wasn't expecting to see Tony for a while. Which would make working with Steve much easier without Tony showing up with any of his high-tech toys. Pepper checked the clock and saw that Steve was due any minute. She put down her laptop and checked that the rarely used dining room table was cleared off for the last box they were sorting through. With perfect timing, the doorbell rang. "I have it JARVIS," she called out, realizing a disembodied voice answering the door might be a little much for her out-of-time guest.

She opened the door and was met by the sight of her new friend, a few feet back from the door, staring at the house. Oblivious to her at the open door. "Hey Steve!" she called out, breaking him out of his trance. He blinked and walked over to her.

"They didn't make houses like this in Brooklyn when I was a kid," he explained, "Nor did they make private helicopters to take you just across a city." Pepper gave him a sheepish grin and led him inside.

"Yes, I didn't really think that through... I should have waited until you were a little more acquainted with the world. But Fury wanted you back in action as soon as I could get you... Sometimes you've gotta run before you can walk." Steve gave her a look - similar to The Look, but to a lesser degree.

"I don't think that's at all possible..." he sighed, "I don't think I'm ever going to get these new figures of speech. They don't make any sense..."

"Actually it doesn't make sense to anyone - it's a saying Tony uses all the time and it's grown into my vocabulary. I think he's the only one it really makes perfect sense to." Steve nodded and they entered the dining room.

He carefully put the final and smallest box on the table before pulling a chair out for Pepper to sit on. She smiled at the now unusual action as she took the offered chair and Steve took one across from her. He glanced at her, took a breath, and opened the box.

It was actually rather anti-climatic. This one held no big secrets to his past, but tons of paper work - official ones from the army describing how he was MIA, assumed dead (Steve barely looked at those) and other newer ones showing the amount of money the government now owed him from his 70 years of service in the army (Steve was visibly shocked at the sum).

As they sorted through the papers, he would glance at Pepper and act like he was about to say something before looking back at the paper he was on. She let him continue; figuring he would say whatever was on his mind when he was comfortable. After a few more glances, he was ready, "So, tell me about Tony."

"What?" This hadn't been what she'd been expecting. Maybe something about the Blackberry she'd been periodically checking to make sure no crisis had appeared at work. Or even the pizza box she'd moved to the other end of the table before the doorbell rang. But not her man-child of a boyfriend. "Why?"

"You talk about him a lot," was all he said with a shrug. He added more after she raised her eyebrow at him, "And I knew his dad."

Pepper sighed. She should have known this was coming. She just didn't want to be the person to tell Steve that his friend was dead - like all his others. She thought she might as well start with it so his hopes didn't get any higher. "I didn't get to meet Howard, he died in a car crash with Tony's mother, Maria, when Tony was 17," she winced as Steve closed his eyes and nodded, as if he had known that would be the answer even if he had been hoping differently.

"At least he settled down eventually. He was quite the ladies' man during the war. With his fondue," he said quietly with a small smile. He saw that Pepper was hesitating, trying to gage if she should keep talking, "Keep going. Fury hinted I'll be working with him, so I might as well get another person's view of him. Nick's isn't very flattering."

Pepper laughed at that, "No, it wouldn't be. He spent too much time chasing Tony around a couple months ago while Tony thought he was dying and trying to do everything on his bucket list in a matter of weeks... He was dying," she added on at Steve's questioning glance, "Again. He seems to enjoy putting himself in near-death experiences that wreak havoc on the few people he lets in. But Fury's kick up his ass got him back on track. Or as back on track as he ever is.

"What else... I met him, oh good God - 10 years ago when he was looking for a new personal assistant. I think I was his 14th, and he'd only been CEO of his company for an year and half at that point," She resumed sorting through the box of papers as she talked - she was a master of multi-tasking after managing Tony's life for what seemed like forever. Steve joined in the sorting after a few seconds. "His problem was he wasn't hiring on resumes - more on _other_ qualities. He's also quite the ladies' man, as you put it, though most others put it in less flattering terms. He'd slept with every one of them and then proceeded to kick them out the next day. I wasn't standing for that crap, let him know it, too, the first time he took a pass at me, and I've been here ever since. Managing every part of Mr. Stark's corporal life. Well, more like every part of it," she added with a rueful laugh.

"That wouldn't be me you'd be talking about, now would it, Miss Potts?" a voice came from the doorway.

"Speak of the devil..." Pepper muttered, "Tony, I'd like you to meet Captain Steve Rodgers. Steve, this is Tony Stark."

"Wow. I think I'm actually star struck. The actual Captain America. My dad told me tons of stories about you, you know. Huge fan," Tony said as he stuck out the cleaner of his oil-stained hands for Steve to shake. Steve dutifully shook it.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to reply to that, but it's good to meet you, too," he replied, studying the man in front of him. "You look a lot like your father," he added quietly, shaking his head. Tony shrugged.

"I don't only get it on with the ladies - though now it's only a certain lady," he shot Pepper a sarcastically seductive look, which she rolled her eyes at, "Pepper failed to mention I also own one of the largest companies in the world - Stark International, which you may or may not have heard about yet."

"You wouldn't be a billion dollar company if I hadn't been here to keep you from running it into the ground," Pepper reminded him, checking his ego. Steve visibly started at this comment.

"That's a figure of speech, right? Nobody actually has a billion dollars, do they?"

"No you're right. Me and my company are actually worth about 34.3 billion, but no ones really counting right now. Very different from just one billion." Pepper wanted to slap Tony. Either he hadn't understood the implications of Steve being 70 years out of his time, or he was getting a kick out of Steve's shocked faces at his blatant comments. She was guessing it was the latter.

"What did you come up here for, Tony?" she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I thought you were working downstairs."

"Can't a guy talk to his girlfriend without having ulterior motives? And you don't seem very happy to see me. I thought girlfriends were supposed to be excited or something when their rich, good looking boyfriend enters the room." Pepper almost wanted to know how Tony's mind worked that it got her into conversations like this. Steve was putting too much work into reading the form in front of him, obviously uncomfortable with Tony's discussion of choice.

"Only when said boyfriend isn't being an egotistical jerk. Really Tony. What do you want?" He sighed like she had deeply hurt him.

"Pizza. It's almost noon and I was wondering what you wanted on your pizza."

"You've known me for ten years, and you still don't know what I like on my pizza?"

"I also don't know my social security number, so what's your point? And the fact that I even remembered lunch should be earning me brownie points. Err, Pepper points." She shook her head in exasperation.

"Vegetarian, extra cheese. Steve, what do you want?" Steve's head snapped up from the form he'd been reading.

"What?"

"Toppings on your pizza. You can have virtually anything on it," she added at his confused look.

"Oh, um. I'll just have whatever Tony's getting." Tony flipped him a grin,

"Good choice. JARVIS!"

"Sir?" the AI responded, which almost gave Steve a heart attack. Pepper was seriously regretting Fury letting Steve come over. Or inviting him in the first place. She should have realized that with Tony in the house, nothing would have gone to her plans anyway.

"How did you not tell the Captain about JARVIS? What were you trying to do? It's not like he'd never meet him or anything," Tony chastised her, as if Steve almost falling out of his chair was somehow her fault. "Cap, this is JARVIS. He runs the house and keeps things working smoothly."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir," JARVIS greeted.

"You too," Steve responded with a slightly hoarse voice. He watched in silence as Toby called the pizza place through JARVIS, paperwork forgotten in front of him. "So, is JARVIS a common thing?" Steve asked once Tony finished ordering.

"No, he's one of a kind. I built him a couple years out of MIT and got him installed in everything a little bit after that. The programming to get him to have an actually personality and intelligence was a nightmare, and then I had to make sure I could turn him off completely some way incase something out of iRobot happened and he tried to take over the world. So far he's just been a good butler, but you never know. Sorta wish I hadn't made him capable of sarcasm, though." Steve nodded slowly, still looking like he might be sick and leaned back in his chair.

"And is Jarvis a name? Or is it an acronym for something?" he focused on the things that made the most sense, Pepper noticed, so that he could methodically learn about what new thing he encountered. She had to give him credit - he didn't quit, even if his upside down world was being shaken like a kid's ant farm.

"See, that was one of the cleverer names I've come up with. Jarvis was our butler when I was kid. Great man. I was so mad at him when he retired. So I wanted to name my new butler after him. But I couldn't just name it that - it had to mean something, because everything has to be a freaking acronym now a days. So JARVIS stands for Just A Really Very Intelligent System. Clever, right?" Tony grinned at Steve's till shocked expression as he mutely nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes - Steve and Pepper sorting through the last of the forms and Tony doodling what was probably one of the world's next greatest inventions on a spare napkin lying on the table.

The doorbell rang, startling them all. "The pizza is here, sir," JARVIS announced. Glancing up, Pepper saw that Steve hadn't been as shocked this time around. Tony absent-mindedly rose to his feet, studying his napkin and wandered towards the door. As he left, she began to neatly put the paper piles away, knowing Tony wouldn't be letting them work while he was eating with them. Pepper just hoped he wouldn't have any other surprises to give to Steve. She wasn't sure how much more he could take.


End file.
